We here at SEC analyze the interactions between natural and societal systems, mostly from a quantitative and modelling perspective. We therefore focus on the changes that society invokes on natural systems to keep them in a condition that is more useful to them as the natural condition, and do also focus on the societal land-use decisions that drive land use change and ecosystem service provision. We furthermore quantify (at different spatial and temporal scales) the stocks and flows of material and energy between natural systems and socio-economic systems. We work a lot with scenarios, where we try to untangle the complex interactions between societal decisions and preferences (e.g. on diets), climate change, and biophysical conditions. Results from our models have been used as inputs to species distribution models in previous projects.
Keywords: Agent-based modelling, food systems modelling, circular economy, bioeconomy
Agriculture
Livestock Systems
Political sciences
We are interested in joining a project that focusses on the interactions between land-use, climate change, and impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services. We are particularly interested in studies that aim to analyze those complex interactions through the lenses of how resilience can be built, but also how resilient systems can be pushed towards transformative change. We would further be interested in the role of organic and agroecological farming systems as drivers of transformative change (or not), and which other innovations in agri-food and land systems (e.g., novel foods, insects, agroforestry and silvicultural systems) can contribute towards such change where synergies between climate change mitigation, adaptation, and biodiversity conservation can be reached.